COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's basketball team surrenders two costly turnovers with less than a minute to play as they are stunned 87-84 by Fort Lewis Saturday afternoon.
INSIDE THE MATCH-UP
Final: UCCS 84, FLC 87
Records: UCCS (11-7, 5-5 RMAC), FLC (13-6, 7-3 RMAC)
Facility: Gallogly Events Center | Colorado Springs, Colo.
All-Time Series: FLC holds the advantage in the all-time series vs UCCS at 41-14. The Mountain Lions are 6-11 vs the Skyhawks under the direction of
Jeff Culver.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Mountain Lions jumped out to an early lead at 11-1. Jezza McKenzie led the way early as he knocked down seven of the Mountain Lions first 11. Fort Lewis would answer with early full-court pressure, which paid dividends, making up ground with a 5-1 run to cut the lead in half at 12-6.
- Over the next seven and a half minutes it was a dead heat, as both teams traded baskets, each dropping 14 points to bring the score to 26-20.
- The two teams continued to trade baskets down the stretch, sharing five three pointers between squads (FLC 3-7, UCCS 2-4) as UCCS pushed the lead out by three points on an 18-15 over the last 6:35 of play to take a 44-35 lead to the locker room at the half.
- As play got underway in the second half, Fort Lewis began to chip away at the Mountain Lions lead, playing with a heightened energy. A run of 20-16 over the opening eight minutes of the final half. Cassius Carmichael led the way with Keither Florence each with five points.
- As the next six minutes ticked away the Skyhawks closed the gap as they tied the game at 64 with 9:05 to go on Chuol Deng's hook shot.
- The next 8:45 of play was an all out cage match that featured three ties and six lead changes which ended with a one point UCCS lead at 82-81. However two back-to-back turnovers from Hannes Saar with 17 seconds, then 12 seconds left allowed back-to-back layups for Tru Allen to put the Mountain Lions in a three-point hole with eleven seconds to play.
- After trading free throws, Xavier Martinez rushed down the floor to attempt a triple to tie the game that skipped off the front of the rim as time expired, seeing Fort Lewis complete the comeback and stun the Mountain Lions 87-84.
STATS FROM THE GAME
- Derek Pranger led the way for UCCS with 14 points in the first half, as Chuol Deng led all scorers with 17 points for the Skyhawks in the first half.
- Choul Deng finished the game with 30 points to lead all scorers for the full 40 minutes of play, as Derek Pranger paced the Mountain Lions with 28 points.
- Biko Johnson finished with 26 points, as Keither Florance had the third most points for the Skyhawks with just nine.
- Four Mountain Lions (Pranger 28, McKenzie 16, Saar 16 and Becker 14) finished in double figures.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Derek Pranger's 28 points is the most in a single game of his career.
- William Becker matches his season best with four blocks against the Skyhawks. (Matches his four vs MSU Denver 1/18/25).
SOCIAL
Twitter - @GoMountainLions
Instagram - @gomountainlions
Facebook – Go Mountain Lions
As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs competes in 14 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
